Method for signal-technology safeguarding of rail vehicles and safeguarding systems related thereto

ABSTRACT

A method and a protection system for signaling protection of rail vehicles connected to at least one central monitoring facility through a data radio system. In order to eliminate cost-intensive and highly complicated protection technology, the vehicles convey instantaneous position data through the data radio system to the monitoring facility. A safety area is defined around each of the vehicles. The safety area depends on a vehicle speed and a measured value scatter of the positional data collection method being used. A warning area surrounds the safety area and the monitoring facility determines movement-defining data through the vehicle-specific position data, safety areas and warning areas. In order to avoid collision-related overlaps of safety zones and to counteract collision-related overlaps of warning areas, the movement-defining data are transmitted to the affected vehicles by way of the data radio system in the event of collision-relevant overlaps.

The invention relates to a method for signaling protection of railvehicles which are linked via a data radio system to at least onecentral monitoring facility, and to a protection system for it. Knowntrain protection systems are based on finding the position of the trainby means of trackside position-finding devices, for example beacons oraxial counting devices. These train protection systems are highlycentralized, which means that even very minor changes, for example tothe track plan, require considerable adaptation effort. A furtherdisadvantage is that the installation, wiring and maintenance ofexternal elements result in a major financial penalty. Satellite-basedmethods currently do not offer sufficient precision in order to be usedfor position finding in the conventional protection method.

Particularly on single-track lines and branch lines, highly complextrack protection technology is normally not used, for cost reasons.Movement permission or permission to continue moving is transmitted by amovement service manager in a control center by radio to the locomotiveengineer on the basis of a movement plan and the current trackoccupancy. Incorrect movement permissions or their misinterpretation bythe locomotive engineer can lead to dangerous, collision-relevantsituations. It is therefore frequently necessary to reserve majorsections of little-used track areas exclusively for individual vehicles,as a result of which only a very low track flow rate can be achieved.

The invention is based on the object of providing a method for signalingprotection of rail vehicles and a protection system for it, which allowtechnical assistance for identification and avoidance of a risk ofcollision using simple means, in particular without any track elementsfor position finding.

According to the method, the object is achieved in that the vehiclestransmit their instantaneous position data via the data radio system tothe monitoring facility in that a safety area, which is dependent on avehicle speed and a measured value scatter of the position datarecording method used, and a warning area which surrounds the safetyarea are in each case defined around the vehicles, and in that themonitoring facility uses the vehicle-specific position data, safetyareas and warning areas to determine movement-defining data, such thatcollision-relevant overlaps of safety areas are avoided, andcollision-relevant overlaps of warning areas are counteracted, whereinthe movement-defining data is transmitted, at least in the event ofcollision-relevant overlaps, via the data radio system to the relevantvehicles. According to claim 7, a protection system is used for thispurpose, in which a transmitting/receiving appliance is provided in thevehicle, whose transmitting component is connected to a device forposition data recording, in which a device for determining a safety areaas a function of a vehicle speed and a measured value scatter of thedevice for position data recording and a warning area, which surroundsthe safety area, around the vehicle is provided, and in which themonitoring facility has a device for determining movement-defining dataon the basis of the vehicle-specific position data, safety areas andwarning areas such that collision-relevant overlaps of safety areas areavoided, and collision-relevant overlaps of warning areas arecounteracted, wherein the movement-defining data can be transmitted, atleast in the event of collision-relevant overlaps, via the data radiosystem to the relevant vehicles.

This makes it possible to achieve an increase in the safety level evenwithout using conventional, costly protection technology. There is noneed for any additional decentralized trackside devices as a result ofwhich the investment costs are low, while it is nevertheless possible toachieve a higher safety level.

The vehicle is completely embedded, that is to say including wagonsconnected to it, in the safety area, wherein the extent, at least in thedirection of travel, must correspond at least to the speed-dependentbraking distance. The size of the safety area is also dependent on themeasured value scatter, that is to say on the measurement inaccuracy, ofthe position data recording. It is desirable to ensure that this safetyarea can never overlap the safety area of another vehicle in acollision-relevant manner. For this purpose, a warning area is placedaround the safety area and, if the warning area overlaps the warningarea of another vehicle, a counter-reaction is introduced at this stage,if this is actually a collision-relevant overlap.

In order to make it possible to distinguish between a collision-relevantoverlap and an overlap which is not collision-relevant, claim 2 providesthat the received position data is evaluated by correlation with trackdata for collision relevance. Overlaps which are not safety-relevant arepossible, in particular, when two vehicles are approaching on paralleltracks or can overtake without meeting. In addition, vehicles which areto be expected at the identified position on the basis of the timetable,and which are waiting for movement permission in the case ofsingle-track sections on an adjacent station track or a bypass track,can thus be identified as not being critical. The monitoring facilitycan use the points position and the instantaneous position data of thevehicles to assess the danger of overlaps, without any furtherinformation, on the basis of the starting position of each vehicle.

In the case of railway tracks with a low operating density orpredominantly single-track operation, it is possible, according to claim3, for overlaps which are not collision-relevant to be identified by atoken method. The token method, which is known per se, ensures that onlyone vehicle ever moves on the monitored track section, under thecomplete responsibility of the locomotive engineer, and all othervehicles in the overlapping warning area or, if appropriate, in theoverlapping safety area as well, are stationary. In order to allow aworthwhile sequence of vehicle movements in this case, the sequence mustbe manually controllable, in which case, where necessary, a token canalso be handed back again to the central monitoring facility. While themethod restricts the movement of the vehicles on a token basis, thelocomotive engineer of the moving vehicle is responsible for ensuringthat no collision with a stationary vehicle occurs. The safety levelwhich can be achieved in this way corresponds to the previous safety onbranch lines.

Only those overlaps which are identified as collision-relevant indicatean increased potential danger and, according to claim 4, lead to acollision warning if the warning areas overlap, with this being signaledaudibly and/or visually to the locomotive engineer. The locomotiveengineer has the obligation to comply with measures, for example speedreduction, when implementing the movement-defining data which in thiscase is transmitted from the monitoring facility via the data radiosystem.

If an extreme danger situation occurs, in which not only the warningareas overlap but, in addition, at least one safety area of a vehicle isalso involved, forced braking is envisaged according to claim 5.

The position data, to be determined within the vehicle, is determinedwith satellite assistance according to the embodiment to be preferredaccording to claim 6. If the position data information fails, forexample when moving through tunnels or as a result of topographicallydependent shadowing, the process of determining position data can becontinued on the basis of the most recent position and the speed for aprojectable time. Alternatively or additionally, it is also possible touse position data determined by an odometer. The relatively wide scatterwidth of the position-finding data, in particular satelliteposition-finding data, is used to define the safety area and the warningarea, and therefore no longer represents a problem. Since the vehiclesare moving objects, the safety area and warning area can be definedindividually on a speed-dependent basis for each vehicle. If the speedis not transmitted together with the position-finding data to thecentral monitoring facility, the maximum permissible vehicle speedapplicable on the respective track section can also be used as the basisfor defining the safety area and the warning area. Differentposition-finding accuracy scatter widths occur depending on theposition-finding system being used, and these are likewise included inthe definition of the warning areas and safety areas. Furthermore, thestability of the data radio transmission should also be taken intoaccount. Because of the use of radio technology, the data link between avehicle and a monitoring facility can fail at any time. The maximum timefor a link failure such as this can additionally be included in thedefinition of the warning area and safety area.

The invention will be explained in the following text with reference toa FIGURE illustration.

The single FIGURE shows a safety area 1.1 and 1.2, respectively, and awarning area 2.1 and 2.2, respectively, for two vehicles, interactingwith a central monitoring facility 3. The vehicles, which are notillustrated, are completely embedded in the respective safety area 1.1or 1.2, while the warning area 2.1 or 2.2 completely surrounds therespective safety area 1.1 or 1.2. The vehicles are equipped withsatellite position-finding receivers, whose measured value scatter,which can also cover adjacent tracks, governs the extent of the safetyarea 1.1 or 1.2, and therefore also of the respective warning area 2.1or 2.2. The vehicles use wireless communication, for example GSM-R, viadata radio links 4.1 and 4.2 respectively, for connection to themonitoring facility 3 and continually transmit the position datameasured with satellite assistance, and preferably also the currentspeed, to the monitoring facility 3. The monitoring facility 3 uses theposition-finding data, safety areas 1.1 and 1.2 and warning areas 2.1and 2.2, respectively, to determine whether the warning areas 2.1 and2.2 overlap and, if yes, whether this overlap is collision-relevant. Thelatter is the case only if the vehicles are moving on the same route,which is specific to the points position. The points position is knownin the monitoring facility 3, as a result of which the monitoringfacility 3 is able to identify whether there is actually a collisiondanger or whether the vehicles are merely moving past one another onadjacent tracks, in which case safety areas 1.1 and 1.2 can also beinvolved in the overlap. Only in the event of a real collision dangerdoes the monitoring facility 3 transmit warning messages to the vehiclesinvolved, which are then braked on the responsibility of the locomotiveengineer himself, or are automatically force-braked by means of anappropriate vehicle appliance. In the end, the described method allowsthe use of inaccurate vehicle-internal position-finding methods, inparticular satellite position-finding, in which case a very high safetylevel can be achieved even without using conventional, costly trackprotection technology.

1-7. (canceled)
 8. A method for signaling protection of rail vehicles,the method comprising the following steps: linking the rail vehiclesover a data radio system to at least one central monitoring facility;transmitting instantaneous vehicle-specific position data from the railvehicles over the data radio system to the monitoring facility; defininga safety area around the rail vehicles in dependence on a vehicle speedand a measured value scatter of a position data recording method beingused; defining a warning area surrounding the safety area around therail vehicles; determining movement-defining data in the monitoringfacility by using the vehicle-specific position data, the safety areasand the warning areas, to avoid collision-relevant overlaps of safetyareas and to counteract collision-relevant overlaps of warning areas;and transmitting the movement-defining data, at least in an event ofcollision-relevant overlaps, over the data radio system to relevant railvehicles.
 9. The method according to claim 8, which further comprisesevaluating the received position data by correlation with track data forcollision relevance.
 10. The method according to claim 8, which furthercomprises identifying overlaps which are not collision-relevant by atoken method.
 11. The method according to claim 8, which furthercomprises triggering at least one of audible or visual signaling at thevehicle, in an event of collision-relevant overlapping of warning areas.12. The method according to claim 8, which further comprises triggeringforced braking at the vehicle, in an event of collision-relevantoverlapping of safety areas.
 13. The method according to claim 8, whichfurther comprises determining the position data with asatellite-assisted position-finding system.
 14. A protection system forcarrying out the method according to claim 8, the system comprising: adevice for vehicle-specific position data recording; atransmitting/receiving appliance disposed in a rail vehicle and having atransmitting component connected to the device for vehicle-specificposition data recording; a device for determining the safety area aroundthe vehicle as a function of a vehicle speed and a measured valuescatter of the device for vehicle-specific position data recording andfor determining the warning area surrounding the safety area around thevehicle; and the monitoring facility having a device for determiningmovement-defining data based on the vehicle-specific position data, thesafety areas and the warning areas to avoid collision-relevant overlapsof safety areas and to counteract collision-relevant overlaps of warningareas, and the monitoring facility transmitting the movement-definingdata, at least in the event of collision-relevant overlaps, over thedata radio system to the relevant rail vehicles.
 15. A system forsignaling protection of rail vehicles, the system comprising: a devicefor vehicle-specific position data recording; a transmitting/receivingappliance disposed in the rail vehicle and having a transmittingcomponent connected to said device for vehicle-specific position datarecording; a device for determining a safety area around the railvehicle as a function of a vehicle speed and a measured value scatter ofsaid device for position data recording and for determining a warningarea surrounding the safety area around the rail vehicle; a monitoringfacility having a device for determining movement-defining data based onthe vehicle-specific position data, the safety areas and the warningareas to avoid collision-relevant overlaps of safety areas and tocounteract collision-relevant overlaps of warning areas; and a dataradio system for transmitting the movement-defining data, at least in anevent of collision-relevant overlaps, from said monitoring facility torelevant rail vehicles.